Coronavirus: Ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt calls UK response ‘concerning’
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the government’s decision not to cancel public events amid the outbreak of coronavirus is “concerning”.
Other countries around the world have banned mass gatherings and closed schools in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.
Boris Johnson said the UK would not ban public events – although he did not rule out introducing the measure in the future – as he set out the next phase of the government’s response to the outbreak.
The Prime Minister said the UK had moved into the “delay” phase, and said anyone with coronavirus symptoms, such as a fever or cough, should stay home for seven days.
Hunt told the BBC: “I think it is surprising and concerning that we’re not doing any of it at all when we have just four weeks before we get to the stage that Italy is at.
“You would have thought that every single thing we do in that four weeks would be designed to slow the spread of people catching the virus.”
Hunt also said he was “personally surprised that we’re still allowing external visits to care homes”.
Evidence from other countries that have fought back the virus successfully showed that they “moved very early” on bringing in social distancing measures, he said.
Italy is in lockdown and the coronavirus death toll in the country has topped 1,000.
Johnson warned yesterday that up to 10,000 people in the UK may already be infected with the virus, although the number of confirmed cases currently stands at 596.
The Prime Minister said many more people will die from the disease. The current death toll in the UK is 10 .